


Drinking in the Atmosphere

by Eli Aristaeus (ilizibeth)



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Autistic Martin Blackwood, Canon Asexual Character, Canon Bisexual Character, F/M, Fluff, Georgie Barker & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Friendship, Grumpy Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Implied Past Angst, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Has ADHD, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist With a Cane, Jonathan Sims has chronic pain, M/M, Martin Blackwood Makes Tea, Queerplatonic Relationships, Tim Stoker Has ADHD (The Magnus Archives), no beta we die like jonah magnus' boyfriends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28741755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilizibeth/pseuds/Eli%20Aristaeus
Summary: Ambiguously set in season one, except Jon stopped being mean to martin a lot quicker than in canon. This is the archives staff taking a little break.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sasha James/Tim Stoker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	Drinking in the Atmosphere

Jon was sat in the break room staring into his rice with a glazed look that laid bare exactly how little sleep he had gotten last night. The break room itself was quiet enough Tim and Sasha were sitting close in that touching but not touching way on the old worn-out sofa sweetly chatting, martin was making tea if Jon had have looked up, he would have seen him proportioning the hot water for Sasha’s green tea with the level of focus usually reserved for people holding sniper rifles not kettles but as it was Jon only registered the gentle tapping and clinking of porcelain. 

A fluorescent bulb flickered above and broke Jon reverie as martin wandered around with a tea tray "thanks martin you're a treasure," Sasha smiled softly as martin handed her a floral mug with swooping calligraphy that subtly concealed the actual content of the message 'I have neither the time nor the crayons to explain this to you.’ Mugs were something of a sacred rite of passage amongst the basement staff each having a few choice selections, Jon's rule for them was no profanity, Sasha’s was no repeats, Tim's many suggestions were mostly overruled but he eventually settled on "suitably badass" which fortunately was a committee determination and not due to Tim’s and Martin's was perhaps the most sensible just that they be dishwasher and microwave safe. 

Tim's mug contained what Jon considered tea on a charitable day and a poorly conceived method for lightly warmed milk otherwise, his mug today had a dragon curled around the base laying on a horde of d20s and the words chaotic bi, all in the blue, pink purple of the bi flag, it was all things considered one of Tim’s more tasteful mugs in Jon's (slightly bi aced) opinion. He accepted it gratefully "thanks mate, you've got wings," smiling broadly and taking the mug from Martin's hands replacing it with his own hand and affectionately squeezing before dropping his hand long the back of the sofa. 

Martin placed his own mug a riot of colour and delightful textures that proclaimed LOUD HANDS beside his own mozzarella, tomato and basil sandwich on a homemade sourdough. His tea order was the only totally inconsistent one amongst the group, drinking rhubarb and ginger loose leaf black tea one day and a matcha tea latte the next though when not on break he generally stuck with earl grey. He gently slid Jon's own mug across the table the simple "world okayest boss," mug that Tim bought him that sparked the whole tradition. Jon knows what all the assistants have for tea, in part because Sasha always asks what Martins having that particular day, but if he is completely honest, well, he's not precisely sure what is in his own cup because as much as he tries, he can't actually recreate it he could theoretically ask, but well, he only really notices the deficit on weekends and he'd rather avoid the inevitable teasing that would ensue from that question. He took the mug in hand and said, "thank you," with a nod.

The first sip of the tea felt like a balm the richness mixing with a perfect sweetness at a temperature that felt like climbing into bed when he actually remembered to use his mattress heater. The warmth seeped into the joints in his hands loosening his muscles and easing some of the steady ache. It was just tea, but the heat did wonders in the climate-controlled basement of the archives, the repeated application of caffeine slowed the torrent of thoughts racing through his head enough that he could gather them to something usable. The rice was good, leftovers from the vegetable biriyani Jon had eaten last night a recipe of his grandmothers. The companionable quiet was nice too, Martin sat across from him running the pads of his broad fingers along the texture of his mug. It made Jon pat down his pockets for something to stim with himself, he found his fidget ring and placed it on his hand, leaning his elbow on the table. Martin smiled at him from across the table and took his now finished lunch things to the sink to wash. Jon grabbed his lemon square from his bag and stretched his shoulders out. 

Tim's own lunch was finished by now and Sasha herself had progressed to reading her newest novel, something of John Grishams though what precisely Jon hadn't yet parsed. "So! boss what exactly is it going to take to get you to join us for Friday night drinks?" Tim turned the seat next to Jon around and began sitting backwards leaning his elbows on the back like a substitute teacher in an eighties movie. "Tim I've told you before there's still a lot of work to do to even make the archives passable," Jon said sliding his middle and index finger through the handle of his mug and sliding it over to his lemon square. "Right yes of course boss but" Tim drew out faux innocently "some of these statements they're over a hundred years old it's not like they can't wait a weekend." Jon rolled his eyes and Sasha chimed in "It would be good for morale, 'team building is one of the tenants of good leadership'," Sasha parroted the sentiment from a particularly boorish lecture that Elias gave at the start of the week about active engagement and other such drivel, the accompanying impression, whilst not flattering, could not honestly be called inaccurate and Jon was forced to temper down a smile. 

"I suppose that a few drinks wouldn't hurt anything, so long as you don't expect me to make a habit of it" Jon relented "of course not boss!" Tim somehow brightened further, his tone indicated that he did not believe a word he was saying but that would be an issue for another week. Jon didn't drink much, a glass of wine with dinner when out with friends was about his limit, but it wasn't due to any particular distaste for drinking it's just harder and harder to get together enough friends to warrant a proper night out. The more he thought about it the more he warmed to the idea. Especially since talking things out with Martin, Jon's realisation that Martin was far more qualified for the head archivist position than he was with a masters and nearly a decade of library experience had made him insecure and defensive he had reacted... poorly. It had taken Georgie's intervention to make him see the error of his ways and apologise but since then he and Martin had formed a sense of comradery over their many shared experiences. Georgie called it neurodivergent solidarity, but Jon just thought it was nice… To have someone else to enjoy the quiet things with. Besides if that were the case, he would experience this with Tim too, although that may be due to Jon being inattentive whereas Tim's hyperactive. The point is that it would do good to have something outside of work to solidify their tentative friendship, that’s all. So Jon goes.


End file.
